Kulangsu and Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks

Waypoint introductions and full write-ups

1. 1. Kulangsu

   Kulangsu, or Gulangyu, is a small island across a narrow strait from the city of Xiamen, and the first thing to know is that you will have to leave your motorcycle behind: no motor vehicles are allowed on the island apart from a few electric service carts. You get there by ferry, and that is part of the charm. Once on the island, the noise of the city disappears, replaced by the sound of footsteps on narrow lanes, birdsong and, quite often, piano music drifting from an open window. Kulangsu is known as the island of pianos, with a long tradition of music and a piano museum.

   Read the complete Kulangsu write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Kulangsu is where the day begins. Next is Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yu.

2. 2. Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yu

   Medieval travellers called it Zaitun, and to Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta it was one of the greatest ports in the world. Quanzhou, on the coast of Fujian facing Taiwan, flourished under the Song and Yuan dynasties as a hub of maritime trade, where Arab, Persian, Indian and Southeast Asian merchants lived alongside Chinese traders, and ships left laden with silk and porcelain. In 2021 UNESCO inscribed a group of sites as Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yuan China, including temples, mosques, tombs, kilns, bridges and docks that together tell the story of this cosmopolitan city.

   Read the complete Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yu write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yu comes up about 64 km into the recorded legs. Next is Wanshou Pagoda.

3. 3. Wanshou Pagoda

   On a hill above the coast south of Quanzhou, in China's Fujian province, a slender stone pagoda has watched the sea for some nine centuries. The Wanshou Pagoda on Baogai mountain, near the town of Shishi, was built in the Southern Song dynasty and served as a landmark for sailors approaching the port of Quanzhou, then one of the busiest harbours in the world. Locals call it the Aunt Pagoda, after a legend that tells of a woman who climbed the hill every day to wait for her husband to return from the sea.

   Read the complete Wanshou Pagoda write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   about 92 km into the recorded legs you reach Wanshou Pagoda. Next is Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks.

4. 4. Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks

   In the Song and Yuan centuries, roughly a thousand years ago, Quanzhou on the coast of Fujian was one of the busiest ports on the planet. Arab, Persian, Indian and Southeast Asian merchants lived here, ships loaded silk, porcelain and tea for the Indian Ocean, and Marco Polo, who knew it as Zayton, described a harbour crowded with vessels. The Zhenwu Temple stands on a small rise by the estuary of the Jin river, where officials once made sacrifices to the god of the sea before the fleets sailed, and the old docks along the shore nearby are part of the World Heritage Site inscribed in 2021 as Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yuan China.

   Read the complete Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Zhenwu Temple and Estuary Docks, about halfway. Next is back through Wanshou Pagoda.

5. 5. back through Wanshou Pagoda

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Wanshou Pagoda write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Wanshou Pagoda sits at 161 km, about halfway. Next is back through Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yu.

6. 6. back through Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yu

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yu write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   back through Quanzhou: Emporium of the World in Song-Yu comes up about 181 km into the recorded legs. Next is Kulangsu.

7. 7. Kulangsu

   Return visit. Read the place description above.

   Read the complete Kulangsu write-up.

   Recorded stop-planning note

   May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.

   Planning note

   Kulangsu closes the day.